On March 23, North Carolina legislators passed a highly controversial bill stating that people using city bathrooms are only able to use the bathroom of the gender on their birth certificate. Additionally, North Carolina cities were barred from passing more general anti-discrimination laws. But the obvious consequence of this bill, signed into law by North Carolina’s Republican Governor Pat McCrory, is that the lives of transgender people in the state will be strongly affected. Under House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act,  transgender citizens are now prevented from using the bathroom of the gender with which they identify. So if a transgender person was born a female but lives as a male, he still will be required to use the women’s bathroom in North Carolina.

While Republicans in the state Senate voted in favor of the bill unanimously, Senate Democrats chose to walk out and simply not vote at all as a way to take a stand against the bill. The session to pass the bill was prompted by an ordinance passed earlier in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte ordinance included protections for sexual orientations and gender identifications, which meant in part that transgender citizens could use the bathroom that they identified with rather than the bathroom that their birth certificate mandated.

North Carolina Republicans have defended the bill by emphasizing the need for privacy and the need to protect women and children from biological males. Governor Pat McCrory tweeted about his signing of the bill: “Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance. That’s why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it.”

Some women and children have supported McCrory’s signing, such as junior Chloe Jefferson of Greenville Christian Academy, who felt sexual predators might try to take advantage of the law. On the flip side, the bill has had much backlash, both statewide and nationally. Several big firms in North Carolina have opposed the bill, along with North Carolina Democrats like Senate leader Dan Blue. Blue stated of the bill: “This is a direct affront to equality, civil rights and local autonomy.”

Nationally, many have reacted negatively, including well-known Americans like Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner, who was born male but identifies as a woman, released a tweet asking for others to join her in an effort to stop the bill. Likewise, National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver warned that the location of the 2017 All-Star Game will be changed from Charlotte, North Carolina, if the bill is not repealed. Musicians including Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen have cancelled concerts in the state. President Obama himself, in fact, expressed his opinion at a press conference in London, saying that the bill was “wrong” and “should be overturned.”

And what do the presidential candidates have to say about the matter? Originally, Republican front-runner Donald Trump stated his opposition to the bill, saying North Carolina should “leave it the way it is,” especially considering the economic problems that the bill has caused for the state. Trump added to Fox News shortly after, however, that the decision is up to North Carolina. Fellow Republican candidate Ted Cruz supports the law, while rival John Kasich did not condemn the bill but said he probably wouldn’t have signed it had it come to him when he was governor of Ohio. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders criticized the law and called for an end to discrimination against transgender people.

On Friday, March 11th, I heard some life-changing news that the popular restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, would be opening in Hanover just a few days later. I was on my way home from a Massachusetts-wide student council conference with all of my friends when Lauren Gelly announced that the first 100 customers to the new store on Monday, March 14th, would be given free chicken wings for an entire year. Immediately, a crazy idea came to my mind that if I were to camp out right when I got home from school that day, I would be the first one in line. I mentioned my thought to Ally Knight who was sitting right next to me, and without hesitation she agreed. Ally and I always do crazy stuff together but this was by far the most ridiculous thing we had ever thought of. So we did it anyway.

As soon as we got home around 3 pm that Friday, we did some research on Buffalo Wild Wings to find out if the “Free Wings for a Year” was actually true. We found out that indeed it was, and we also read that at some of the openings, the first customer was given a $100 gift card to go with their year-supply of free wings. Before even asking our parents, we were off to Buffalo Wild Wings. We grabbed all of our belongings at our houses like our phones, chargers, food, sweatpants, sweatshirts, hats and whatever else we needed for a campout in front of B-Dubbs. Neither of us had a tent, so we borrowed a small, orange, one-person tent from our friend Connor McCormick.

We got to BWW at around 4 pm and started setting up our tent. One of the managers, Mike, came outside to tell us they weren’t opening until Monday morning at 10:00 am. We told him that we were aware it was only Friday afternoon, but we wanted to be first in line. He called out all the other workers to come see how crazy we were, and they all couldn’t stop laughing. All of the BWW workers were taking pictures, and told us we were about to become “Buffalo Wild Wing Legends.” The managers told us that in BWW history, the earliest people to ever show up before an opening was around 4:00 pm the night before. We were three days early.

We didn’t care. We hung out in our tent, resting and enjoying the nice weather until around 6:30 pm when Mike and the other managers invited us in for some free dinner. They were doing soft openings for training sessions, so all of the food was free and we could basically order anything on the menu. We got tons of food and wings, all for free, and all of the staff loved us because we were “the two girls living outside in a tent.” After dinner, a couple of friends visited us at our tent. They completely ripped the front of the tent, and then left, leaving us exposed to the chill of the night. Ally ran to Walmart in the mall to buy a new tent, while I stayed at our spot. She bought a hot pink tent with dancing foxes all over it, because it was the cheapest one they had.

We woke up in the morning to coffees and munchkins, which the manager bought us. We left our tent for a bit, showered and got ready for the day, then met back at the tent to hang around there all day. Friends were constantly visiting us, we were constantly receiving free food, and no less than 15 pictures an hour were taken of us. Every so often, police would drive by and tell us it was not a good idea to be sleeping there, but we held our ground and stayed there all three nights. We did homework in our lawn chairs, taking shifts staying at the tent when either Ally or I had to work. We would go home every night, get ready for bed, then come back to our little pink home.

The last night, Sunday night, was truly the most spectacular. Hosted by the best DJ ever, we played trivia all night, challenged each other in Kahoot!, sang karaoke, and played all sorts of fun games. Joining us on our last night were our friends Mikey Nimiskern, Jill Drummy, Andrea Bilton, Jamie Knight, Mike Meads, and Callie Hoadley. Other groups of people set up their own tents and got into warm clothes for the fun night ahead. We had to stay awake the whole night because a woman named Shauna would come out of the building every half hour or so to give us stickers. In the morning, they assembled us into a line based on how many stickers we had. Obviously Ally and I had the most, so we were number 1 and 2 in line in the morning. All of the managers invited us into the group picture with them. It truly was a weekend to remember, and now I have free wings until March 2017.

The school trip to Italy has been a popular topic of conversation among Hanover High School students lately. When the trip was called off last Thursday because of the recent bombings in Brussels – just 22 days before we were supposed to leave — students were devastated. Mr. Paquette surprised everyone once again with an email Saturday morning stating that the trip was back on with added security measures. Responses from parents and students were mixed. Some were wary of any international travel after the attacks. Others are willing to take the risk of potential terrorist activity in exchange for a life-changing trip. I completely understand that it is a tough decision whether to take part in the trip or not in light of recent events, and there is no “right” answer. In the end, it comes down to the family and what they are comfortable with. In the end, there was no question for me whether to go to Italy or not. I had been looking forward to this trip since it was first planned back in 2015 and would let nothing, not even ISIS, stand in my way. Here’s what led to my decision:

1. The government issued a travel ALERT, not a WARNING. Although these words have pretty similar definitions in every day life, they are vastly different when in comes to the safety of international travel. A travel alert, which was issued after the Brussels bombing, is basically a wake-up call to Americans that yes, the world is a dangerous place. In contrast, a warning is a much more serious and is a strong deterrent from any travel. The travel alert is definitely warranted, and there are very real threats in the world, but this is not anything new.

2. We will be constantly on the move. As part of the trip we will be covering a lot of ground. Florence, Venice, Pompeii, Capri, and Rome are all of the heavy hitters on the itinerary, but we will also be exploring some of the lesser-known Italian attractions such as the towns of Orvieto and Sorrento. These small cities are much less likely to be targeted for a terrorist attack, and the many hours that we will spend on the road will likely keep us safe as well.

3. You are just as likely to be the victim of a terrorist attack as you are to be struck by lightning. The Brussels bombings were a tragic event and nothing can justify the loss of life on that terrible day. Thirty five people were killed and hundreds of others sustained injuries. Let’s not forget, however, that there are 7 billion people on this earth. That means that your chances of being killed in a terrorist attack on that particular day were .000000005 percent. Even on the days when terrorism strikes especially hard, you still have a greater chance of winning the Powerball jackpot than you do of being a victim.

4. If I didn’t go, the terrorists would have won. Inflicting fear is the point of terrorism, after all. If I stayed home over April vacation because of a fear that I might end up the victim of a terrorist attack, I have accomplished exactly what ISIS is looking to do. If we shelter ourselves and become isolated from the world in fear of groups like ISIS, we become just as ignorant of all the beauty and goodness the world has to offer as they are.

5. I’ve never tasted Italian gelato. Seriously. There are so many delicious Italian foods I have to cross off my bucket list, monuments to see, shops to explore, and people to meet in Italy. I just could not pass up the opportunity to grow my world and take in as much of this beautiful country as I could in 10 days.

6. I’d rather take risks than have regrets. Traveling abroad always poses a threat. If it’s not ISIS you’re worried about, it could be a plane crash, the airline losing your luggage, being separated from the group, and the list goes on. For me, it is all about the pros and cons. Yes, while there is a slight chance that any of those things may happen, I know for a fact that I will have an amazing experience in Italy and will never have the chance to explore a beautiful European country surrounded by my best friends again. In the end, this is what it came down to for me. I knew that I would forever look back and regret my decision if I chose not to go to Italy, and now instead of this regret I will be left with memories I will cherish for years to come.